Veronica Pamoukaghlian
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6 Fabulous German Movies on Netflix to Improve Your Deutsch in 2023
German movies aren’t just important from a historic standpoint, they’re also a fun and useful resource for German learners.
I actually think the improvement of my German during my stay in Berlin is owed more to the movies I watched there than to having held conversations in German!
Here’s how you can improve, too, with German movies that you can stream on Netflix.
Contents
- Benefits of Watching German Films on Netflix
- 6 German Movies on Netflix in 2022 for a Fun Way to Improve Your German
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Benefits of Watching German Films on Netflix
Wherever you may be in the world, chances are you only hear about German films after they’ve received an Oscar nod, like blockbusters “Good Bye, Lenin!” or “Das Leben der anderen” (The Lives of Others).
But fortunately, Netflix has expanded all over the world incredibly fast. Thanks to this expansion, the company is now offering more and more foreign films every day, and German films are no exception.
This is great news for German learners, as the benefits of watching films to learn German are manifold.
- Original language films with subtitles are great for language learners. If your German is from intermediate to advanced, there are lots of films you can watch with closed captions in German, which is even better. As Netflix offers many subtitle options, it’s an ideal platform for language learners.
- You have the ability to rewind and replay to learn vocabulary. You may prefer to watch the whole movie without stopping it the first time around, but if you found some cool slang in it that you wish you could learn, Netflix allows you to scroll through the movie to find it and replay it to your heart’s content.
- You’ll learn colloquial German and common expressions. Other than visiting a German-speaking country, there’s no better way to learn slang and colloquial language than watching movies. I cannot say enough about this, as I’ve learned half the languages I know almost exclusively from watching movies. Books often teach you expressions that people seldom use, while contemporary movies offer you a more current and real-life version of the language.
- You’ll get access to a great selection of quality films. Netflix offers a curated collection. As such, it leans toward the side of quality. Entertaining films can make learning fun, and Netflix is one of the world’s top choices when it comes to entertainment today.
6 German Movies on Netflix in 2022 for a Fun Way to Improve Your German
1. “Lommbock”
Speaking of hilarious movies, “Lommbock” is also a great choice for a good laugh. Be warned, however! This film can get a little, um… raunchy.
“Lommbock” follows Stefan, a successful lawyer who thinks he finally has his life in order: He’s found a beautiful woman to marry him in Dubai and he’s been clean of drugs for many years. Before he can marry the woman of his dreams, he must return to Germany to get some documents in order. Enter Stefan’s old friend Kai: the man who threatens to turn Stefan into a sleazy bad boy all over again!
While this film can definitely ride the line of racy humor, Stefan and Kai’s relationship matures quite a bit as it is revealed that Kai is also in need of getting his life in order. I recommend this movie for intermediate learners—and definitely for adults only!
These movies on Netflix are a great start, and you can continue to expose yourself to real-world German with FluentU.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Click here to check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
2. “Kidnapping Stella”
Have you ever had such a messy break-up that you wanted to kidnap your ex and extort their rich family for money?
Well, neither have I, but it sure makes for an action-packed film!
In this remake of the British film “The Disappearance of Alice Creed,” two men, Vic and Tom, kidnap Stella, the daughter of a rich investor and Tom’s ex-girlfriend, in order to get money for ransom. As Stella proves to be a difficult victim and Tom becomes increasingly more disillusioned with the ransom, the story becomes complicated as Vic refuses to stop his get-rich-quick scheme.
This movie is ideal for intermediate learners as it uses a lot of colloquial language often employed by trendy German youth.
3. “Alles ist gut” (All Is Well)
In 2018, Eva Trobisch won the Stockholm Film Festival award for Best Director for her film, “Alles ist gut,” and it’s not hard to understand why.
In this heart-wrenching drama, the main character Janne is sexually assaulted by her boss’ brother-in-law. While she vows to live in silence and not to tell anyone about what has happened to her, the incident festers within her, complicating her work, her day-to-day life and her relationship with her lover, Piet.
This film is a true cinematic masterpiece. The cinematography is expertly done, and of course, the German dialogue is elegant and poignant. Trust me, there’s a reason this film has a coveted 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
4. “Good Bye, Lenin!”
Very rarely, films manage to capture the essence of an era. “Good Bye, Lenin!” which portrays the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, is one of them.
It’s built around a hilarious premise: A woman is in a coma when the wall falls, and her son wants to pretend nothing has happened when she wakes up. The film has lots of great comedic moments, but also many moments that are moving and dramatic. It really is a jewel of a movie, and it served to launch Daniel Brühl’s international acting career.
In terms of language, it’s highly approachable and recommended for all German learners.
As of January 2021, this film is no longer available on Netflix, but you can find it on Amazon Prime Video.
5. “Das Leben der Anderen” (The Lives of Others)
“Das Leben der Anderen” is truly a masterpiece and a rightful Oscar winner. It tells the story of an informer living in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany. More than portraying the evils of a controlling state, it’s a film that raises important questions about morality and trust.
Is it ever justified to spy on people? When regimes pass, should people pay for the sins committed in the sphere of the state? Ultimately, it’s a film about good, evil and the blurry lines in between.
If you’re a beginner, you’ll probably get lost at certain points, but that shouldn’t deter you from enjoying this amazing film.
As of January 2021, this film is no longer available on Netflix, but you can find it on Amazon Prime Video.
6. Die Welle” (The Wave)
How did Hitler convince people? Is it possible to do what he did? A professor does an experiment at a university to try to answer these questions. Naturally, the experiment gets out of hand.
This immensely popular film is about the big questions of life. It has deep philosophical implications and will probably alter the way you view mass phenomena forever.
The film offers some complex discussions that may be harder to follow, but also slang and language spoken by young people.
Learning this type of language is especially useful, and by now you probably realize that learning German isn’t just about cramming grammar, it’s about understanding the language as it’s actually used every day.
As of January 2021, this film is no longer available on Netflix, but you can find it on Amazon Prime Video.
Thank goodness Netflix just keeps adding more German gems to their digital library.
Whether you end up tracking down one of our past picks or click away to stream a current offering right now, I hope I’ve succeeded in inspiring you to enjoy some German cinema.
There’s no better way to improve your German!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
